Mark Wahlberg: “I Don’t Want My Kids Getting Tattoos”

While many of us may enjoy looking at Mark Wahlberg‘s muscular, tattooed body, it seems the 40-year-old Contraband actor doesn’t share the same sentiment – at least regarding the tattoos.

Mark is in the process of getting the “six or seven” tattoos he’s acquired over the years removed. However, the hunky actor is taking things a step further – he’s including his two eldest children Ella Rae, 8, and Michael, 5½, in the process.
“[All the tattoos] have meaning to me, but it’s both personal and professional,” Mark tells Today.

“I don’t want my kids getting tattoos,” he adds. “And I wanted them to be [removed] by the time I did The Fighter because putting make-up on and covering them up has always been a pain in the butt.”

In a solid effort to deter his children from following down that same path and getting ink of their own, Mark has decided to make his trips to the doctor office a family event.

“I’ve taken my two older kids to the procedure so they see how painful it is and what I have to go through,” he reveals.

Whether it be tattoos or life in the Hollywood spotlight, the doting dad is hopeful his children won’t follow in their famous father’s footsteps.

“I don’t want my kids to be in the entertainment business either, which is why I’m trying to build a lot of [separate] businesses,” Mark – who is also a producer and restaurant owner says. “If they feel [passionate about acting], and that’s the decision they want to make, then I’ll support them. But I’ll do everything I can to point them in another direction.”

The actor – who is also father to children Brendan, 3, and Grace, 2, with wife Rhea Durham – admits that although all his children are wonderful, it’s his youngest son that keeps him on his toes.

“When my son looks at me and says, ‘Daddy, go out of the room. I want to watch this by myself,’ I know he’s up to something,” he shares. “So I’ll walk out one door [and] come around the other when he’s on the counter trying to grab the scissors or the knife.”

“He got a hold of his antibiotics and ate three,” Mark recalls. “Of course I go into a panic attack and I called our pediatrician and he said, ‘Don’t worry. The worse he’ll get is diarrhea, he’ll be fine.’”

No matter what happens throughout the day, family remains most important.

I’ve always said, ‘If I succeed as a businessman and I fail as a father, then it’s all been for nothing.’ That’s, by far, the most important role that I’ll ever play in my life … being a parent and a husband.”